Meet the new kids on comics block; voting ends March 31

Someone loves just about every comic strip on our comics page. But on Sunday, The Gazette introduced some new names into the mix with its first comic survey in more than five years. Now readers will have a chance to check out some of the exciting (and funny) cartoons carried in other newspapers....

Now subscribers will have a chance to check out some of the exciting (and funny) cartoons carried in other newspapers.

On D3 of Monday's print edition, you'll see the mail-in/drop-off ballot that introduces you to eight comics we don't run as well as 17 comics and one puzzle that we do. Weigh in on what you love, hate or simply don't care about either way. And to help make that decision, each day you'll see different strips of the new offerings, just to get the flavor of the strip over time.

What to know more? What follows is some background on the unfamiliar comics as well as cocktail party facts to impress your friends.

THE ARGYLE SWEATER

Scott Hilburn

Syndicated: 2008

Storyline: No narrative. This single panel comic is where one should expect the unexpected: where animals can talk, the imaginary becomes real and politicians tell the truth.

Something else: On the same day Charlie Sheen partied himself into yet another drama, a prophetic Argyle Sweater cartoon depicting the star's vices appeared in papers across the country.

BIZARRO

Dan Piraro

Syndicated: 1985

Storyline: A single panel cartoon. No narrative. Bizarro takes a surreal, satirical and sometimes bizarre look at our idiosyncratic world.

Something else: Aside from creating his popular comic, Piraro does standup comedy and is an avid supporter of animal rights.

FORT KNOX

Paul Jon Boscacci

Syndicated: 1999

Storyline: A tale of a military family's escapades told from the military brat's point of view.

Something else: The strip recounts the cartoonist's experiences as a military brat and reflects characters Boscacci met during his father's various tours of duty, including one at Fort Knox, Ky.

WUMO

Wulff & Morgenthaler

Syndicated: 2012

Storyline: No narrative. WuMo celebrates life's absurdity and bittersweet ironies, holding up a funhouse mirror to our modern world and those who live in it.

Something else: Named WuMo after the pair's last names, the irreverent panel appears in the largest papers in northern Europe.

MR BOFFO

Joe Martin

Syndicated: 1986

Storyline: With no narrative, the strip focuses on Earl, wife Nadine and "wonder dog" Weederman in everyday lives that hop and skip through time and place.

Something else: With multiple strips in circulation, he's a busy man: Martin has published 1,300 jokes yearly and more than 22,000 strips published since 1979.

TAKE IT FROM THE TINKERSONS

Bill Bettwy

Syndicated: 2010

Storyline: Ted and Tiff Tinkerson and two children - a naive son, Tillman, and a moody tween daughter, Tweetie -pursue the hopes and dreams of a modern family as they keep afloat in today's economic realities.

Something else: Bettwy started cartooning in high school and at one time produced character design and development for Sony Wonder and Mattel Interactive.

DUSTIN

Steve Kelley and Jeff Parker

Syndicated: 2010

Storyline: The Kudlick family - mother Helen, father Ed and daughter Megan - learn how to live with 23-year-old prodigal son Dustin, who is unemployed, unmotivated and fails to see that as a problem.

Something else: Kelley, who writes the strip, is a political cartoonist syndicated in more than 100 papers. Parker, also a political cartoonist, works with Mike Peters on Mother Goose & Grimm.

TINA'S GROOVE

Rina Piccolo

Syndicated: 2002

Storyline: Tina faces the daily challenges of being a waitress at Pepper's Fine Dining Restaurant and the trial of being a working woman in the 21st century.